"My dad was the general manager there from day one, and he never stopped working, even though he had some health issues in the last year and a half," said his daughter Laura Hastert-Gardner.

A resident of Lemont, Mr. Hastert, 73, died on Wednesday, June 30, in a southwest suburban hospital, his daughter said. She said he was taken to the hospital with a fever and his condition worsened, and that the cause of death was not clear.

Born in Aurora, Mr. Hastert worked in his father's poultry business as a boy, delivering chickens to restaurants. Robert C. Hastert, his dad, bought the site of White Fence Farm in 1953. It had been the 450-acre estate of coal tycoon Stuyvesant Peabody on the old U.S. Route 66.

Peabody had converted the farmhouse to a hamburger stand in the 1920s. Robert C. Hastert saw the potential for drawing crowds to what was then still farm country by serving hearty chicken dinners at an expanded restaurant, Laura Hastert-Gardner said.

"I was told (my grandfather) drove by there and saw this nice atmosphere in the country, and he said, 'If I could buy that and serve good food, people will come,'" Hastert-Gardner said.

Mr. Hastert graduated from Bradley University in 1959 and served in the Navy before coming home to work with his father at the restaurant. It turned out to be the only job he ever had.

"He liked to make sure people were happy and they got fed good," Hastert-Gardner said. "He liked to see people enjoying themselves."

In the late 1960s, Mr. Hastert began opening satellite carry-out White Fence Farm locations "to get the food to the people," his daughter said. There are now four White Fence Farm locations besides the original one near Romeoville.

Mr. Hastert also allowed the White Fence Farm name to be used on one other restaurant — an eatery run by a family in Lakewood, Colo., his daughter said.

Mr. Hastert's most important role, however, was as general manager of the flagship location near Romeoville, which his family continually expanded and improved.

"Over the years, we've put on a total of 30 additions, including 11 new dining rooms, 11 additions to the kitchen and eight sets of restrooms," he told the Tribune in 1993. "The very first remodeling job focused on the kitchen, because at the time my father made the purchase, it was nonexistent."

For Mr. Hastert, the fruits of all of his hard work were both the restaurant's success and a steady flow of satisfied customers.

"I like to walk around the dining rooms when I'm at work and simply visit with the customers," he told the Tribune. "I treat them just as I would guests at my home. The only difference is that I've got 1,200 of them for dinner."

For close to 50 years, Mr. Hastert's home was little more than a stone's throw from the restaurant, his daughter said.

"He lived a mile from the restaurant so he could always be close," she said.

Mr. Hastert's other interests included boating on Lake Michigan on his boat — which he dubbed Chicken of the Sea — collecting vintage cars and antiques and taking an active role with the Lockport Rotary Club.

Mr. Hastert's wife, Jeanne, died in 1994.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Hastert is survived by another daughter, Susan; and three grandchildren. His first cousin, J. Dennis Hastert, is the former U.S. House Speaker.